"What a truly noble looking being!" observed Major Montgomerie, as he
followed with his eye the receding form of the athletic but graceful
Tecumseh. "Do you know, Colonel D'Egville, I could almost forgive your
nephew his success of this morning, in consideration of the pleasure he
has procured me in this meeting."
Colonel D'Egville looked the gratification he felt at the avowal. "I am
delighted, Major Montgomerie, to hear you say so. My only fear was that,
in making those chieftains my guests at the same moment with yourself
and niece, I might have unconsciously appeared to slight, where slight
was certainly not intended. You must be aware, however, of the rank held
by them among their respective nations, and of their consequent claim
upon the attention of one to whom the Indian interests have been
delegated."
"My dear sir," interrupted the Major, eager to disclaim, "I trust you
have not mistaken me so far, as to have imputed a reserve of speech and
manner during dinner, to which I cannot but plead guilty, to a
fastidiousness which, situated as I am, (and he bowed to the general and
commodore,) would have been wholly misplaced. My distraction, pardonable
perhaps under all the circumstances, was produced entirely by a
recurrence to certain inconveniences which I felt might arise to me from
my imprisonment. The captive bird," he pursued, while a smile for the
first time animated his very fine countenance, "will pine within its
cage, however gilded the wires which compose it. In every sense, my
experience of to-day only leads me to the expression of a hope, that all
whom the chances of war may throw into a similar position, may meet with
a similar reception."
"Since," observed the General, "your private affairs are of the
importance you express, Major Montgomerie, you shall depart with your
niece. Perhaps I am rather exceeding my powers in this respect, but,
however this may be, I shall take the responsibility on myself. You will
hold yourself pledged, of course, to take no part against us in the
forthcoming struggle, until you have been regularly exchanged for
whatever officer of your own rank, may happen to fall into the hands of
your countrymen. I shall dispatch an express to the Commander in-Chief,
to intimate this fact, requesting at the same time, that your name may
be put down in the first list for exchange."
Major Montgomerie warmly thanked the General for his kind offer, of
which he said he should be glad to avail himself, as he did not like the
idea of his niece proceeding without him to Detroit, where she was an
entire stranger. This, he admitted, determined as she had appeared to
be, was one of the unpleasant subjects of his reflection during dinner.
With a view of turning the conversation, and anxious moreover, to obtain
every information on the subject, the general now inquired in what
estimation Tecumseh was generally held in the United States.
"Among the more intelligent classes of our citizens, in the highest
possible," was the reply; "but by those who are not so capable of
judging, and who only see, in the indomitable courage and elevated
talents of the patriot hero, the stubborn inflexibility of the mere
savage, he is looked upon far less flatteringly. By all, however, is he
admitted to be formidable without parallel, in the history of Indian
warfare. His deeds are familiar to all, and his name is much such a
bugbear to American childhood, as Marlborough's was in France, and
Napoleon's is in England. It is a source of much regret to our
Government never to have been enabled to conciliate this extraordinary
man."
"What more feasible," remarked the General, but with a tone and manner
that could not possibly give offence; "had not the difficulty been of
its own creation? Treaty after treaty, you must admit, major, had been
made and violated under various pretexts, while the real motive--the
aggrandizement of territories already embracing a vast portion of their
early possessions--was carefully sought to be concealed from these
unfortunate people. How was it to be expected then that a man, whom the
necessities of his country had raised up to itself in the twofold
character of statesman and warrior--one gifted with a power of analyzing
motives which has never been surpassed in savage life--how, I ask, was
it to be expected that he, with all these injuries of aggression
staring him in the face, should have been won over by a show of
conciliation, which long experience, independently of his matured
judgment, must have assured him was only held forth to hoodwink, until
fitting opportunity should be found for again throwing off the mask."
"To the charge of violating treaties," returned Major Montgomerie, who
took the opposite argument in perfectly good part, "I fear, general, our
Government must to a certain extent plead guilty--much, however, remains
to be said in excuse. In the first place, it must be borne in mind that
the territory of the United States, unlike the kingdom of Europe, has no
fixed or settled boundary whereby to determine its own relative bearing.
True it is, that we have the Canadas on one portion of our frontier, but
this being a fixed line of demarcation, there can exist no question as
to a mutual knowledge of the territorial claims of both countries.
Unlike that of the old world, however our population is rapidly
progressing, and where are we to find an outlet for the surplus of that
population unless, unwilling as we are to come into collision with our
more civilized neighbors, we can push them forward into the interior. In
almost all the contracts entered into by our Government with the
Indians, large sums have been given for the lands ceded by the latter.
This was at once, of course, a tacit and mutual revocation of any
antecedent arrangements, and if instances have occurred wherein the
sacredness of treaty has been violated, it has only been where the
Indians have refused to part with their lands for the proffered
consideration, and when those lands have been absolutely indispensable
to our agricultural purposes. Then indeed has it been found necessary to
resort to force. That this principle of "might being the right," may be
condemned _in limine_ it is true, but how otherwise, with a
superabundant population, can we possibly act?"
"A superabundance of territory, I grant you, but surely not of
population," remarked the commodore; "were the citizens of the United
States condensed into the space allotted to Europeans, you might safely
dispense with half the Union at this moment."
"And what advantages should we then derive from the possession of nearly
a whole continent to ourselves?"
"Every advantage that may be reaped consistently with common justice.
What would be thought in Europe, if, for instance to illustrate a point,
and assuming these two countries to be in a state of profound peace,
Spain, on the principle of might, should push her surplus population
into Portugal, compelling the latter kingdom to retire back on herself,
and crowd her own subjects into the few provinces that might yet be left
to them."
"I cannot admit the justice of your remark, commodore," returned Major
Montgomerie, gradually warming into animation; "Both are civilized
powers, holding the same rank and filling nearly the same scale among
the nations of Europe. Moreover, there does not exist the same
difference in the natural man. The uneducated negro is, from infancy and
long custom, doomed to slavery, wherefore should the copper colored
Indian be more free? But my argument points not at their subjection. I
would merely show that, incapable of benefitting by the advantages of
the soil they inherit, they should learn to yield it with a good grace
to those who can. Their wants are few, and interminable woods yet remain
to them, in which their hunting pursuits may be indulged without a fear
of interruption."
"That it will be long," observed the General, "before, in so vast a
continent, they will be without a final resting place, I readily admit;
but the hardship consists in this--that they are driven from particular
positions to which their early associations lend a preference. What was
it that stirred into a flame, the fierce hostility of Tecumseh but the
determination evinced by your Government to wrest, from the hands of his
tribe, their last remaining favorite haunts on the Wabash?"
"This cannot be denied, but it was utterly impossible we could forego
the possession of countries bordering so immediately on our settlements.
Had we pushed our colonization further, leaving the tribes of the Wabash
in intermediate occupation, we ran the risk of having our settlers cut
off in detail, at the slightest assumed provocation. Nay, pretexts would
have been sought for the purpose, and the result of this would have been
the very war into which we were unavoidably led. The only difference
was, that, instead of taking up arms to avenge our slaughtered kinsmen,
we anticipated the period that must sooner or later have arrived, by
ridding ourselves of the presence of those from whose hostility we had
everything to apprehend."
"The expediency of these measures," said the General, "no one, Major,
can of course doubt; the only question at issue is their justice, and in
making this remark it must be obvious there is no particular allusion to
the United States, further than that country serves to illustrate a
general principle. I am merely arguing against the right of a strong
power to wrest from a weaker what may be essential to its own interest,
without reference to the comfort, or wishes, or convenience of the
latter."
"In such light assuredly do I take it," observed Major Montgomerie,
bowing his sense of the disclaimer. "But to prove to you, general, that
we are only following in the course pursued by every other people of the
world, let us, without going back to the days of barbarism, when the
several kingdoms of Europe were overrun by the strongest, and when your
own country in particular became in turn the prey of Saxons, Danes,
Normans, &c., merely glance our eyes upon those provinces which have
been subjugated by more civilized Europe. Look at South America, for
instance, and then say what we have done that has not been far exceeded
by the Spaniards, in that portion of the hemisphere--and yet, with this
vast difference in the balance, that there the European drove before him
and mercilessly destroyed an unoffending race, while we, on the
contrary, have had fierce hostility and treachery everywhere opposed to
our progress. The Spaniards, moreover, offered no equivalent for the
country subdued; now we have ever done so, and only where that
equivalent has been rejected, have we found ourselves compelled to
resort to force. Look again at the islands of the West Indies, the chief
of which are conquests by England. Where are the people to whom
Providence had originally assigned those countries, until the European,
in his thirst for aggrandizement, on that very principle of might which
you condemn, tore them violently away. Gone, extirpated, until scarce a
vestige of their existence remains, even as it must be, in the course of
time, with the Indians of these wilds--perhaps not in this century or
the next, but soon or late assuredly. These two people--the South
Americans and Caribs--I particularly instance, for the very reason that
they offer the most striking parallel with the immediate subject under
discussion. But shall I go further than this, gentlemen, and maintain
that we, the United States, are only following in the course originally
pointed out to us by England."
"I should be glad to hear your argument," said the Commodore, drawing
his chair closer to the table.
"And I," added the General, "consider the position too novel not to feel
interested in the manner in which it will be maintained."
"I will not exactly say," observed Colonel D'Egville, smiling one of his
blandest smiles, and few men understood the winning art better than
himself, "that Major Montgomerie has the happy talent of making the
worse appear the better cause; but certainly, I never remember to have
heard that cause more ably advocated."
"More subtly perhaps you would say, Colonel; but seriously, I speak from
conviction alone. It is true, as a citizen of the United States, and
therefore one interested in the fair fame of its public acts, that
conviction may partake in some degree of partial influences; still it is
sincere. But to my argument. What I would maintain is, as I have before
stated, that in all we have done we have only followed the example of
England. For instance, when the colonisation of the Eastern and Southern
states of the Union took place, that is to say, when our common
ancestors first settled in this country, how was their object effected?
Why, by driving from their possessions near the sea, in order to make
room for themselves, those very nations whom we are accused of a desire
to exterminate, as if out of a mere spirit of wantonness. Did either
English or Dutch then hesitate as to what course _they_ should pursue,
or suffer any qualms of conscience to interfere with their colonial
plans? No; as a measure of policy--as a means of security--they sought
to conciliate the Indians, but not the less determined were they to
attain their end. Who, then, among Englishmen, would have thought of
blaming their fellow countrymen, when the object in view was the
aggrandizement of the national power, and the furtherance of individual
interests? While the colonists continued tributary to England they could
do no wrong--they incurred no censure. Each succeeding year saw them,
with a spirit that was _then_ deemed worthy of commendation, pushing
their advantages and extending their possessions, to the utter exclusion
and at the expense of the original possessors of the soil. For this they
incurred no blame. But mark the change: no sooner had the war of the
revolution terminated in our emancipation from the leading strings of
childhood--no sooner had we taken rank among the acknowledged nations of
the world--no sooner had we, in a word, started into existence as an
original people--than the course we had undeviatingly pursued in
infancy, and from which we did not dream of swerving in manhood, became
a subject for unqualified censure. What had been considered laudable
enterprise in the English colonist, became unpardonable ambition in the
American republican; and acts affecting the national prosperity, that
carried with them the approbation of society and good government during
our nonage, were stigmatized as odious and grasping the moment we had
attained our majority."
"Most ably and eloquently argued, Major," interrupted the general, "and
I fear with rather more truth than we Englishmen are quite willing to
acknowledge: still it must be admitted, that what in the first instance
was a necessity, partook no longer of that character at a later period.
In order to colonize the country originally, it was necessary to select
such portions as were, by their proximity to the sea, indispensable to
the perfection of the plan. If the English colonists drove the Indians
into the interior, it was only for a period. They had still vast tracts
to traverse, which have since, figuratively speaking, been reduced to a
mere span: and their very sense of the difference of the motive--that is
to say, of the difference between him who merely seeks whereon to erect
his dwelling, and him who is anxious to usurp to himself the possession
of an almost illimitable territory--cannot be better expressed than by
the different degrees of enmity manifested against the two several
people. When did the fierceness of Indian hatred blaze forth against the
English colonists, who were limited in their views, as it has since
against the subjects of the United States, who, since the Revolution,
have more than tripled their territorial acquisitions?"
"Nay, general," replied the American, his lip partially curling with a
smile, indicating consciousness of triumphant argument; "I shall defeat
you on your own ground, and that by going back to a period anterior to
the revolution--to the very period you describe as being characterised
by less intense hostility to your own government."
"What, for instance, have we seen in modern times, to equal the famous
Indian league, which, under the direction of the celebrated Pontiac, a
chieftain only surpassed by Tecumseh, consigned so many of the European
posts to destruction, along this very line of district, about the middle
of the last century. It has been held up as a reproach to us, that we
have principally subjected ourselves to the rancorous enmity of the
Indians, in consequence of having wrested from them their favorite and
beautiful hunting grounds, (Kentucky in particular,) to which their
early associations had linked them. But to this I answer, that in
Pontiac's time this country was still their own, as well as Ohio,
Louisiana, Indiana, &c., and yet the war of fierce extermination was not
the less waged towards the English; not because these latter had
appropriated their principal haunts, but because they had driven them
from their original possessions near the sea. The hatred of the Indians
has ever been the same towards those who first secured a footing on
their continent, and, although we are a distinct people in the eyes of
the civilized world, still we are the same in those of the natives, who
see in us, not the emancipated American, but merely the descendant of
the original colonist. That their hostility has progressed in proportion
with our extension of territory, I cannot altogether admit, for although
our infant settlements have in a great degree suffered from occasional
irruptions of the savages, when men, women and children, have alike been
devoted to the murderous tomahawk, in no way have our fortresses been
systematically assailed, as during the time of Pontiac."
"For this," interrupted the general, "there are two obvious reasons. In
the first instance, your fortresses are less isolated than ours were at
that period, and secondly, no such intelligent being as the chieftain
you have named, had started up among the Indian nations until now. What
Tecumseh may not effect in course of time, should he not perish in the
struggle for his country's liberty, ought to be a matter of serious
consideration with your Government."
"Of his great talents and dauntless determination they are fully aware,"
replied the major; "but as I have already said, nothing short, not
merely of giving up all claim to future advantages, but of restoring the
country wrested from him on the Wabash, can ever win him from his
hostility; and this is a sacrifice the Government will never consent to
make."
At this point of the argument, Messieurs Split-log, Round-head, and
Walk-in-the-water, having finished their kinni-kinnick, and imbibed a
due quantum of whiskey; possibly, moreover, not much entertained by the
conversation that was carried on in a language neither of them
understood but imperfectly, rose to take their leave. They successively
shook hands with the British leaders, then advancing towards Major
Montgomerie, with a guttural "Ugh," so accentuated as to express good
will and satisfaction, tendered their dark palms to that officer also,
muttering as they did something about "good Chemocomon." They then with
becoming dignity withdrew, followed by Colonel D'Egville, who had risen
to conduct them to the door.
The conversation, thus temporarily interrupted, was resumed on that
officer's return.
"Admitting the truth of your position, Major Montgomerie," remarked the
Commodore, "that the Government of the United States is justified, both
by expediency and example, in the course it has pursued, it will not at
least be denied, that Tecumseh is, on the very same principle, borne out
in the hatred and spirit of hostility evinced by him towards the
oppressors of his country."
"Granted," returned the Major, "but this point has no reference to my
argument, which tends to maintain, that in all we have done, we have
been justified by necessity and example."
"The fact is, however, that this position of things is one unavoidably
growing out of the clashing of adverse interests--the Indians being
anxious to check, we to extend, our dominion and power as a people; and
the causes existing now were in being nearly a century ago, and will, in
all probability continue, until all vestige of Indian existence shall
have passed utterly away. When the French were in the occupancy of the
Canadas, having nothing to gain from them, they cultivated the alliance
and friendship of the several nations, and by fostering their fierce
hostility against the English colonists, rendered them subservient to
their views. To-day the English stand precisely where the French did.
Having little to expect from the Indians but assistance in a case of
need, they behold, and have for years beheld, with anything but
indifference, the struggle continued by the United States which was
commenced by themselves. I hope I shall not be understood as expressing
my own opinion, when I add, that in the United States, the same covert
influence is attributed to the commanders of the British fortresses that
was imputed to the French. Indeed it is a general belief, among the
lower classes particularly, that, in all the wars undertaken against the
American out-posts and settlements, the Indians have been instigated to
the outrage by liberal distributions of money and presents from the
British Government."
"It will hardly be necessary to deny the justice of such an imputation
to Major Montgomerie," remarked the General, with a smile, "especially
after having disavowed the opinion as his own. The charge is too absurd
for serious contradiction--yet we are not altogether ignorant that such
an impression has gone abroad."
"Few of the more enlightened of our citizens give into the belief," said
the Major; "still it will give me especial pleasure to have it in my
power to contradict the assertion from the lips of General Brock
himself."
"That we have entered into a treaty of alliance with the Indians,"
observed Colonel D'Egville, "is most certainly true; but it is an
alliance wholly defensive. I must further observe, that in whatever
light the policy of the Government of the United States in its relations
with the Indians, may be privately viewed, we are, under all
circumstances, the last people in the world who should condemn it as
injurious to our public interests, since it has been productive of
results affecting the very existence of these provinces. Had the
American Government studied conciliation rather than extension of
territory, it is difficult to say to what side the great body of the
Indians would, in the impending struggle, have leaned. The possibility
of some such event as the present had not only been foreseen, but
anticipated. It has long been obvious to us that the spirit of
acquisition manifested by the United States, would not confine itself to
its customary channels; but on the contrary, that, not contented with
the appropriation of the hunting grounds of the Indians, it would
finally extend its views to Canada. Such a crisis has long been provided
against. Presents, to a large amount, have certainly been distributed
among the Indians, and not only this, but every courtesy, consistent at
once with our dignity and our interest, has been shown to them. You have
seen, for instance," continued he with a smile, "my three friends who
have just left the room; they are not exactly the happiest specimens of
Indian grace, but they have great weight in the council, and are the
leading men in the alliance to which you alluded, although not wholly
for the same purpose. In the wars of Pontiac--and these are still fresh
in the recollection of certain members of my own family--the English
commanders, with one or two exceptions, brought those disasters upon
themselves. Forgetting that the Indians were a proud people, whom to
neglect was to stir into hatred, they treated them with indifference, if
not with contempt; and dearly did they pay the penalty of their fault.
As we all know, they, with only one exception, were destroyed. In their
fall expired the hostility they themselves had provoked, and time had
wholly obliterated the sense of injustice from the minds of the several
nations. Were we then, with these fearful examples yet fresh in our
recollection, to fall into a similar error? No: a course of conciliation
was adopted, and has been pursued for years; and now do we reap the
fruit of what, after all, is but an act of justifiable policy. In my
capacity of Superintendent of Indian affairs, Major Montgomerie, even
more than as a Canadian brought up among them, I have had opportunities
of studying the characters of the heads of the several nations. The most
bitter enmity animates the bosoms of all against the Government and
people of the United States, from whom, according to their own showing,
they have to record injury upon injury; whereas from us they have
received but benefits. I repeat, this is at once politic and just. What
could Canada have hoped to accomplish in the approaching struggle, had
the conduct of the American Government been such as to have neutralized
the interest we had excited in and for ourselves? She must have
succumbed; and my firm impression is, that at whatever epoch of her
existence, the United States may extend the hand of conquest over these
colonies, with the Indian tribes that are now leagued with us crowding
to her own standard, not all the armies that England may choose to send
to their defence will be able to prevent it."
"Filling the situation you now occupy, Colonel, there can be no doubt
you are in every way enabled to arrive at a full knowledge of Indian
feelings and Indian interests; and we have but too much reason to fear,
that the strong hatred to the United States you describe as existing on
the part of their several leaders, has had a tendency to unite them more
cordially to the British cause. But your course of observation suggests
another question. Why is it that, with the knowledge possessed by the
British Government of the cruel nature of Indian warfare, it can consent
to enlist them as allies? To prevent their taking up arms against the
Canadas may be well, but in my opinion, (and it is one generally
entertained through the United States,) the influence of the British
authorities should have been confined to neutralizing their services."
"Nay, Major Montgomerie," observed the General, "it would indeed be
exacting too much to require that we should offer ourselves unresisting
victims to your Government; and what but self-immolation would it be to
abstain from the only means by which we can hope to save these
threatened Provinces? Colonel D'Egville has just said that, with the
Indians opposed to us, Canada would fall. I go farther, and aver that,
without the aid of the Indians, circumstanced as England now is, Canada
must be lost to us. It is a painful alternative, I admit, for that a
war, which is not carried on with the conventional courtesies of
civilized belligerent nations, is little suited to our taste, you will
do us the justice to believe; but by whom have we been forced into the
dilemma? Had we been guilty of rousing the Indian spirit against you,
with a view to selfish advantage; or had we in any way connived at the
destruction of your settlements, from either dread or jealousy of your
too close proximity, then should we have deserved all the odium of such
conduct. But this we unequivocally deny.
"I would ask you, on the other hand, if you are aware of the great
exertions made by your Government, to induce them to take an active part
in this very war. If not, I can acquaint you that several of the chiefs,
now here, have been strongly urged to declare against us; and, not very
long since, an important council was held among the several tribes,
wherein some few, who had been won over by large bribes, discussed the
propriety of deserting the British cause, in consideration of advantages
which were promised them by the United States. These of course were
overruled by the majority, who expressed the utmost indignation at the
proposal; but the attempt to secure their active services was not the
less made. We certainly have every reason to congratulate ourselves on
its failure."
"This certainly partakes of the _argumentum ad hominem_," said the
Major, good humoredly; "I do confess, I am aware that, since the idea of
war against England was first entertained, great efforts have been made
to attach the Indians to our interests; and in all probability, had any
other man than Tecumseh presided over their destinies, our Government
would have been successful. I however, for one, am no advocate for their
employment on either side; for it must be admitted they are a terrible
and a cruel enemy, sparing neither age nor sex."
"Again, Major," returned the General, "do we shield ourselves under our
former plea--that, as an assailed party, we have a right to avail
ourselves of whatever means of defence are within our reach. One of two
things--either we must retain the Indians, who are bound to us in one
common interest, or we must, by discarding them, quietly surrender the
Canadas to your armies. Few will be Quixotic enough to hesitate as to
which of the alternatives we should adopt."
"And if we should be accused of neglecting the means of preventing
unnecessary cruelty," observed Colonel D'Egville, "the people of the
United States will do us infinite wrong. This very circumstance has been
foreseen and provided against. Without the power to prevent the Indians
from entering upon these expeditions, we have at least done all that
experience and a thorough knowledge of their character admits, to
restrain their vengeance, by the promise of head money. It has been made
generally known to them that every prisoner that is brought in and
delivered up shall entitle the captor to a certain sum. This promise, I
have no doubt, will have the effect, not only of saving the lives of
those who are attacked in their settlements, but also of checking any
disposition to unnecessary outrage in the hour of conflict."
"The idea is one certainly reflecting credit on the humanity of the
British authorities," returned Major Montgomerie; "but I confess I doubt
its efficacy. We all know the nature of an Indian too well to hope that
in the career of his vengeance, or the full flush of victory, he will
waive his war trophy in consideration of a few dollars. The scalp he may
bring, but seldom a living head with it."
"It is, I fear, the horrid estimation in which the scalp is held, that
too frequently whets the blades of these people," observed the
Commodore. "Were it not considered a trophy, more lives would be spared;
but an Indian, from all I can understand, takes greater pride in
exhibiting the scalp of a slain enemy, than a knight of ancient times
did in displaying in his helmet the glove that had been bestowed on him
as a mark of favor by his lady-love."
"After all," said the General, "necessary as it is to discourage it by
every possible mark of disapprobation, I do not see, in the mere act of
scalping, half the horrors usually attached to the practice. The motive
must be considered. It is not the mere desire to inflict wanton torture
that influences the warrior but an anxiety to possess himself of that
which gives undisputed evidence of his courage and success in war. The
prejudice of Europeans is strong against the custom, however, and we
look upon it in a light very different, I am sure from that in which it
is viewed by the Indians themselves. The burnings of prisoners, which
were practised many years ago, no longer continue; and the infliction of
the torture has passed away, so that, after all, Indian cruelty does not
exceed that which is practised even at this day in Europe, and by a
nation bearing high rank among the Catholic powers of Europe. I have
numerous letters, recently received from officers of my acquaintance now
serving in Spain, all of which agree in stating that the mutilations
perpetrated by the Guerilla bands, on the bodies of such of the
unfortunate French detachments as they succeeded in overpowering, far
exceeded anything imputed to the Indians of America; and, as several of
these letters are from individuals who joined the Peninsular Army from
this country, in which they had passed many years, the statement may be
relied on as coming from men who have had more than hearsay knowledge of
both parties."
Here a tall, fine-looking black, wearing the livery of Colonel
D'Egville, entering to announce that coffee was waiting for them in an
adjoining room--the party rose and retired to the ladies.